We found love
by pinkcatsfromouterspace
Summary: Tony is married and McAbby is a reality. Ziva is jealous and feels neglected from the team as Tony's wife is an NCIS agent. With help from her longtime friend, Kate. She runs to the 12th and starts over. Soon, both agencies collaborate. Tiva and Caskett.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello again,**

**It's been a day and I'm back already, this time with a crossover fic, I love both Castle and NCIS so much and I thought about what if Ziva and Kate met? It would be fantastic. So here goes nothing. This story might be a little short (like about 5 chapters) though unless you give me your suggestions and reviews. Enjoy!**

Chapter 1:

Ziva gulped down maybe her third can of beer, she was sick of everything, she was getting pissed off more easily these days. But there was a reason to this, because of a darn rule and an annoying NCIS agent.

*Flashback*

Ziva was typing away at her desk when Tony entered from the lift looking mighty jolly. McGee was first to question him.

"Why so happy Tony, you finally figured how to program your phone?"

Ziva chuckled.

"I figured that out ages ago, call Abster, bossman, Ducky and the autopsy gremlin up here."

McGee gave Tony a skeptical face but did as told anyway.

A few minutes later, Abby was bouncing up joyfully and down grasping a cup of fresh Caf-Pow!. Ducky and Jimmy were both slowly trailing behind and Gibbs appeared out of the elevator with a cup of coffee.

"So, since all of you are here, I have a very important announcement to make. I'm getting married." Said Tony excitedly

The team fell into silence but Abby was the first to burst into happiness. She crushed him in a hug.

"Tony! That's great! Congrats!" Abby kissed him in the cheek and went over to McGee and whispered, "You better hurry up and ask me too." She gave him a wink. Both of them were now dating and Abby loved every single minute of being with McGee.

McGee smiled and went over to congratulate Tony along with Gibbs, Ducky and Jimmy. Ziva stood there in shock, trying to hide the hurt in her eyes. Obviously it was that new NCIS agent that Tony had been seeing. Agent Alison Daytona, she was a pretty girl with no history of violence in her family or a broken family like her. She was a brunette as well and had a nice body figure.

Tony turned to Ziva and saw her spaced out,

"Hey Zi, you alright?"

"Umm, yes, fine. Congrats Tony, I know you two will be the best couple ever." She said softly and forced a smile.

At that point, Alison walked into the squad room,

'You told them?" she started

"Yeah, I did. It's going to be a wonderful ceremony." Tony replied and kissed her.

Over the past two weeks, Alison had included herself in the team, she made big breaks for them and Ziva's opinions didn't seem to matter anymore. Alison also knew some science and helped out Abby at her lab. They were becoming the best of friends. Ziva felt so neglected.

On the wedding day,

Ziva was the bridesmaid as was Abby. Ziva had a look of disappointment on her face the whole ceremony, she did not even bother to doll up. When Tony and Alison kissed, that was her breaking point. At the reception afterwards, she just left and walked under the pouring rain, she could get her car some other time. She felt like shit now. Who cares about the damn car at this point.

*End of flashback*

So here she was, drinking can after can of beer, in depression mode. She was on her laptop clearing out her emails until she received one from her dear friend Kate Beckett at the 12th precinct. It read,

"Dear Ziva,

It's been long times since we last saw each other, how are you? I just wanted to check on my long time best friend, we should make it a point to see each other more often. Take care, hope to hear from you soon!

Lots of love,

Kate."

Ziva smiled to herself, she had missed talking to Kate. She met Kate at a book signing event in New York, a Richard Castle book signing event to be specific. They instantly clicked. They shared same interests and had the same problems. They exchanged personal contacts and they met up once every month. But work was hectic lately and they missed some of their meetings. An idea sprung to her head and she called Kate.

She picked up after two rings,

"Beckett."

"Hey Kate,"

"Oh gosh! Hi Ziva, how are you?"

"Not so good…"

"What's wrong?"

Ziva explained everything over the phone, Kate listened patiently,

"Oh, I'm so sorry Zi. Is there anything I can do?"

"Actually, yes, I need a huge favor."

So Ziva explained her plan, she was going to fake her own death and run to New York to start over in the 12th precinct. She was going to get a new ID and start afresh.

Kate considered it for a moment, she could not possibly say no to her longtime friend. She agreed to pick her up from Washington and rented her apartment to her. She had an extra room anyway. They disconnected and Ziva went to bed.

The next day,

Ziva came back from her run and started to pack up, she skipped a day of work. She went and bought some items to create a remote controlled bomb.

At NCIS,

Ziva's desk was empty, Gibbs came in yelling,

"Grab yer gear! Dead marine." He noticed Ziva's empty desk

"Where's David?"

"Don't know boss, she didn't call in sick or anything."

"Really, McGee, I didn't know that." Gibbs replied sarcastically

"Right, you're the boss and you know everything."

"Dinozzo, get Alison to fill in temporarily, we need to move."

"On it boss,"

"Keep your butt grabbing out of the office when you're working."

"Got it boss,"

Gibbs was worried for Ziva, he knew she was a grown up and could take care of herself but she had been off the past few days but he hadn't had the time to ask her about it.

At night,

Ziva saw Kate's car pull up from the back, she grabbed her new Ids and threw her badge and other forms of identification on her coffee table.

She entered Kate's car and blew up her apartment and that was the day Ziva David "died".

**R&R please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Waddup dawgs!**

**Thank you to those who put this story on alert of favorites and to those who reviewed! Thanks so much, it really motivates me as an author. I'm sick so I have more time to write as I'm stuck at home. So expect quick updates for the next three days if I get the number of reviews I want. Enough chit chat, here's chapter 2.**

Chapter 2:

Kate was a tad taken aback when she saw Ziva's house explode. She was about to turn to Ziva and ask her something until she noticed that her eyes were red and puffy and a little bloodshot. She kept her curiosity to herself and started up the engine. About halfway through the trip back to New York, Kate stopped at a dinner, bought them some food and ate in silence in the car. Ziva was the one to break the silence.

"I… I really, really liked him you know."

Kate turned to Ziva who was sucking away at her diet coke. Kate put her tub of salad on her lap and put her arm around Ziva's shoulder.

"You wanna talk about it?" she asked in a gentle tone

So Ziva explained about how Alison seemed to take over her place in the team and how she felt and about that damned rule number 12. Kate was silent the whole time, letting Ziva open herself up to her. Once Ziva stopped talking, Kate gave Ziva a hug and reassured her,

"Don't worry, you're a great person Zi, I'm sure you will find someone else."

Tears started to stream down slowly, Ziva hugged Kate back tightly. Both of them finished up their meals and continued the drive.

A few minutes into the drive,

Kate was getting drowsy, she had accidently, out of her fatigue, made a wrong turn and now she had to turn back. Ziva suggested that that both hit the sacks in a motel first, they could bond together more and get some rest. Kate spotted a motel, checked in, grabbed her emergency overnight duffel bag and headed for the room.

At twelve midnight,

Ziva couldn't get any rest, she just kept on sobbing quietly into the night, careful not to wake Kate up. Suddenly, she felt a wave of nausea come over her and she sprinted to the toilet. Kate had heard the toilet door slam open and saw Ziva emptying the contents of her dinner into the toilet bowl. She got up quickly, grabbed a hair tie and gathered Ziva's hair up for her.

"Zi, you alright?" Kate asked with concern evident in her voice

"Fine, I must have eaten something bad from the dinner." Ziva replied

Kate grabbed a bottle of water from her bag and handed it to Ziva. Ziva gulped it down and thanked Kate. Kate helped her up and both ladies went back to bed.

The next day,

Kate got up to receive over 20 messages on her phone from Castle asking where she was and if anything was wrong. She grinned, so cute of him, to worry about her like that. She flipped open her phone and dialed Castle.

"Beckett! Where have you been, I went to your apartment last night and you weren't there! Where are you?"

"Calm down big boy, I'm with a friend."

"Woman or male? Did you just call me big boy?"

"Why the hell do you care? Yes I did"

"Don't ever call me big boy again. It's a writer's intuition to be nosy."

Ziva got up and yawned loudly, she stretched for a while and padded to the bathroom.

Castle heard the yawning, "Woman eh? Did you share a bed?"

"Yes we did, and it was so fun!" said Kate sarcastically, "Of course not, I don't know what you are implying, but don't be annoying. I'll see you later." Kate disconnected call before Castle could say anything.

Ziva came out of the bathroom, showered and freshened up. Kate was amazed.

"How do you do all your business so fast?"

"I was trained for that, if I'm too slow, my enemy might shoot me since I'm at my vulnerability point in the bathroom."

"You are going to be the best roommate ever." Kate said with a smile.

Back at NCIS,

Tony had come into work quite cheerfully, he just planned on going to Hawaii for his honeymoon with his lovely wife. They both parted at the elevator after Alison gave Tony a small peck on his cheek. He entered the bullpen and noticed that everyone was very silent. The whole team was up in the squad room and director Vance was addressing all of them. Tony set his bag at his desk and noticed Ziva's desk was empty still.

"What's going on here? Who died?" he asked jokingly

"Ziva." Replied McGee softly

"It was a joke probie," replied Tony

"He's serious Tony," said Abby

Tony went silent for a few minutes and then he let his emotions out.

"WHEN? HOW? WHY? SOMEBODY GIVE ME SOME ANSWERS!"

"Shut up Dinozzo, you're not the only one who's looking for some damn answers." Replied Gibbs coldly

Tony walked to his desk and slammed his fist down, real hard. Abby burst into tears and McGee hugged her. Ducky and Jimmy bowed their heads.

"What are we supposed to do? Sit around? Let's go and investigate!" cried Tony.

"We are off on this case, we are personally involved so we can't do anything about it." said McGee.

Tony rammed his fist to the wall behind his desk. Tony Dinozzo was not a happy man today.

In New York,

Kate brought Ziva to her pad and Ziva unpacked her stuff. She was settled in watching television on the couch as Kate was out to meet Castle for some reason. She always knew those two had a thing going on, how could they not see it? She flipped to the news station and saw images of fire fighters outside her apartment. She flipped off the television and flopped onto the couch. She wondered what things were like back in D.C.

**R&R please!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey Sailors,**

**Like I said, there will be quick updates as I am still sick. If you see any hinky errors, feel free to comment on them considering I am not in my right mind. (Those damned coughing fits will give brain damage and be the death of me)**

**PS: In case you are wondering, this takes place around Castle season 4 and NCIS one episode after the finale of NCIS season 8. (Excuse my timing, it is fiction)**

**Enough about me, onto the story!**

Chapter 3:

Kate arrived home to a silent apartment, she locked the door behind her softly. Castle had brought her out to some fancy restaurant and had a meal with her. "What did he do that for?" Kate thought, anyway, Castle said that it was because they hadn't had dinner together for a long time. She surveyed the apartment, she noticed that Ziva was not in the living room, she must have gone to bed. She walked down the hallway and noticed that the bathroom light was on and Ziva was sitting by the toilet bowl.

"Hey Zi, what's wrong?" she asked concernedly

"I do not know Kate, I keep on throwing up and up again and again." Said Ziva weakly

"Do you need to go to the doctor's?"

"No, I will be fine, could you get me a drink please."

Kate nodded and hurried to the kitchen. She came back with a glass of apple juice.

Ziva accepted the drink gratefully and gulped down the drink in one shot. Ziva got up slowly, brushed her teeth and moved aside to let Kate use the bathroom.

Ziva walked slowly to her bedroom and plopped onto the bed. In a few minutes time, she was fast asleep.

Back in D.C,

Tony could not even get a wink of sleep, he kept tossing and turning around. Careful not to wake Alison up, he slid out of bed and tip-toed to the sitting room, he went to the bookshelf and grabbed a photo frame. The photo was of Ziva and Tony making goofy faces at the camera at the NCIS staff Christmas party. If he wasn't wrong, it was Abby who shot the photo.

He sat down on the couch and sighed at the photo. He just lost his closest friend, or maybe it was more than friends. Maybe even something romantic. But rules were rules, never date a co-worker. So he found himself a replacement. As much as he loved Alison, deep down in his heart, he still had feelings for Ziva.

Somewhere else,

Abby was sobbing in her sleep, McGee hugged her tightly and she hugged back. She cried into his shirt softly. McGee sighed, Ziva was like his older sister, he just lost a sibling and he was very upset as well. His eyes refused to shut, so he stayed awake late into the night, listening to his girlfriend sob.

In Gibbs' basement,

This was his eight cup of bourbon. He was in his basement working on a new project. Gibbs, however, could not focus on what he was doing. So he gave up and went to get another glass of bourbon. He went up to the living room and sat on the couch, on his coffee table, was a team picture. He picked it up, his team did not feel complete and it felt like a part of his heart had been wrenched out. His NCIS family meant the world to him. He should have asked Ziva about her off behavior long ago. Yet, he chose to ignore it. Sitting there, a thought sprung to his mind.

Ziva's expression would become solemn whenever Alison joined them. Maybe she felt left out. He'll never know now, because it was too late. Ziva was the daughter he lost, first Shannon and Kelly followed by Kate and now Ziva. Why were people always walking out of his life?

At the Palmer residence,

Palmer was quiet at dinner time and Breena noticed.

"Jim, you okay?"

"Huh? Oh yes, just lost in thought."

"What happened?"

"Ziva, she, passed away"

Breena gasped in shock.

"Oh dear, that's terrible!"

Breena walked over to Jimmy and gave him a peck on his forehead.

"Is there anything you want me to do?"

Jimmy shook his head sadly, he might not have been all that close to Ziva, but she was still his favorite person to joke around with sometimes.

At the Mallard residence,

Ducky was in his library reading, tomorrow, he had to head down to crime scene and look for any traces of Ziva's ashes. He remembered the time when Ziva was over for the thanksgiving dinner. She had been very helpful in the kitchen and both of them traded recipes and cooking techniques. How much fun that was. Now, Ziva would never come over for Thanksgiving. Ducky closed his book, shut off the lights and headed to bed.

The next day in New York,

Kate woke up to find Ziva not in her room, she panicked for a while until she heard the door opening and Ziva entering in with her jogging gear.

"Don't scare me like that!" exclaimed Kate

"I did not even do anything!" yelled Ziva in return

Kate shook her head and went to freshen up. When she came out of the bathroom, she was greeted by the smell of freshly brewed coffee and tea and pancake batter. Kate walked to the living room and saw her dining table was set with lots of food. From toast to bacon, pancakes to eggs and cereal to sausage links.

"Ziva, you didn't have to you know," said Kate

"No, it's fine, sit down! Tuck in!"

Both ladies sat down and ate while chatting away casually. After breakfast, Ziva went to take a shower followed by Kate and both of them headed off for the 12th precinct.

In Kate's car,

Kate noticed that Ziva was very fidgety. She gave Ziva a reassuring smile. Today was the day where Ziva would take the test to become a NYPD cop. She was nervous and jittery.

At the 12th precinct

"Let me introduce you to my team before you meet captain Gates. Don't fret, my team is very professional." Kate said, she grabbed Ziva's wrist and pulled her into the lift.

At their destination, Ziva noticed something whirling towards her, she stepped aside in time to let the thing enter the lift.

Kate's face was hilarious, apparently, it was detective Ryan on the wheeled chair and detective Esposito and Castle were the ones who pushed him into the lift.

"Errm," said Ziva

Kate spun around to face Castle and Esposito. Both of them faltered at her facial expression and headed to the break room whistling.

"Hey! Guys! Get me out!" yelled Ryan

Kate hit the button for the ground level.

'He…" was all Kate and Ziva heard before the lift doors shut.

"Professional?" Ziva mouthed to Kate.

"They're not usually like… this."

She saw that on the whiteboard, the trio were playing hangman and the last phrase was, "Kate Beckett is a sexy cop who loves Castle."

Kate blushed a little. Ziva so did not miss that.

"Why are you blushing, your face is as red as an apple."

"A tomato," Kate corrected.

"That too," Ziva replied

Kate chuckled softly, when was Ziva ever going to learn?

**R&R please!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Aloha!**

**Sorry this story wasn't updated for so long, school got real busy and all. Yeah, so thank you to all my faithful readers and reviewers, I will credit you in the next chapter if you review this one. That sounds like bribery but I like reviews so, keep doing what you are doing!**

**Now, I present, chapter 4!**

**PS: Happy 200****th**** episode to NCIS and I can't wait for the Blue Butterfly on Castle and Life Before His Eyes on NCIS! (Redundant, Redundant) I'm from Singapore so I will watch it later then everyone. (More redundant)**

Chapter 4:

At the 12th precinct,

Ziva was having her evaluation with captain Gates in the head office. Esposito, Ryan and Castle were observing from a distance and were discussing their opinions of her.

"I think she's hot." Said Esposito, "That sexy hairstyle, that widow's peak, the way she sits and the way she dresses turns me on!"

"Yeah, she is pretty cute. I like her Middle Eastern vibe." Agreed Ryan

"Look who's talking, the married man." Whispered Castle

At that time, Kate appeared behind the men and was eavesdropping in on their conversation

"I wonder if she's got a thing for men like me…" whispered Esposito

"Give it a shot bro!" initiated Castle

Kate nodded her head and continued listening on

"Yeah bro, she totally suits you!" said Ryan

"How's she like in bed?" said Esposito

"She sleeps with a gun under her pillow." Said Kate

The three men jumped simultaneously and turned around slowly.

"How… How, much did you hear?" asked Castle

"Long enough to know she's so not your type, Espo. Give it up."

Esposito frowned, Kate's desk phone rang

"Beckett," she answered, "Okay, sure, we will be there soon."

She put the phone back down and turned to the men.

"We got a case, gear up."

Castle stood up from his seat while Ryan and Esposito packed up and loaded whatever they needed. Ziva came out of the office at that time. Kate walked over to her.

"How did it go, Zi?"

"Captain Gates said that she will observe me for a few days with your team and give me her evaluation. I gave her my range scores from NCIS and she seemed impressed."

"Nothing like a good first impression with an awesome range score I'm sure. Come on, we gotta move."

"By the way, why do I have to address her as Sir?"

"Personal reasons, come on. I will explain more about the 12th on the car ride."

Ziva complied and trailed obediently behind Kate.

Back at NCIS,

Alison had transferred over to Gibbs' team, she was overjoyed. Gibbs on the other hand, did not like this new arrangement. Nobody could ever replace Ziva and he did not like two co-workers who are in a relationship to be on the same team. It was a violation of his rules. Nevertheless, the team seemed fine working with Alison but deep inside, they were all thinking of Ziva. Tony was the most conflicted. He enjoyed being on the same team as his wife but he missed Ziva on the team, it just wasn't the same.

Back in New York,

Ziva and Kate's team, including medical examiner, Lanie Parish, were out together for a team dinner. Ziva instantly clicked with the team. They seemed to get along well. Kate was happy and pleased that they were all getting along. After the dinner, Castle and Kate went off to someplace else, Ryan drove home and Esposito walked Lanie back to her place before calling for a cab to return to his own. Ziva was left to drive home.

"The second time that Castle and Kate disappeared together. Something is definitely going on…" she thought while driving.

It was getting too silent in the car so she flipped on the radio. The one that got away by Katy Perry came on. She listened to the lyrics closely and found herself relating to the song.

"Summer after high school, when we first met, we'd make out in your Mustang to Radiohead…"

A lone tear came down her cheek as the song closed. Just nice, she arrived at the apartment at the same time the song ended. She wiped her face, parked and got out of her car. As she was searching for the key in her bag, she bumped into someone holding boxes of takeout.

"I am so sorry!" she bent over and helped him with gathering his stuff.

"Sorry! I was looking for my key and I did not see you! So sorry!" she said

"Hey, it's alright. You didn't hit me that hard, takeout seems intact." the man laughed

Ziva looked up into a charming man's blue eyes. She blushed for a moment and looked down again.

"Hey! I've never seen you around here, just moved in?" the man asked in a friendly demeanor

Ziva nodded and replied softly, "I just moved from Washington. I'm staying with my friend Kate."

"Oh! Kate! Lovely girl she is. How rude of me, I haven't introduced myself, I'm Adam, Adam Westwood."

"Ziva, Ziva David." Ziva said softly.

"Hi Ziva, nice to meet you, I live on the third floor. New girl in a big city, it can get quite lonely sometimes. Come over sometime?"

"Sure." She said with the sweetest smile she could put on. She flipped her hair a little to add that hint of flirtation.

Adam wrote down his exact address on Ziva's palm along with his number.

"Call me anytime." He winked and walked off.

Ziva stood on the spot staring at the number on her hand. She giggled, it has been a long time since she started dating again. She had always set her heart in Tony. Guess it was time to move on. Maybe she had a second chance at love.

Meanwhile at Castle's apartment,

Kate was over at Castle's apartment. Alexis was out for a sleepover with her friends and Martha was out of town with some of her theater club friends so the two of them had the whole apartment to themselves.

Kate held her gun close to her chest. Castle was somewhere in the house. She was a cop and she couldn't miss this shot. She took the risk and got up. She spotted Castle running across the hallway and she fired her gun three times without even looking.

**R&R please!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hit that.**

**So, as promised I would credit those who reviewed constantly. So shout out to, Davorah13, Robern and someguyshere are just some of the few. Thank you to all who reviewed my last chapter. I love you all!**

**Probably want to start reading now huh? I should start. Yeah.**

Chapter 5:

"Damn!" shouted Castle

Kate smirked in victory, she had won this round of their Nerf Gun battle. Castle slumped down on the couch and took off his Velcro vest and pulled out the bullets stuck to it.

"Give it up Castle, you can never beat me." Kate taunted

"One day, you watch out Beckett. Don't get all cocky there now baby doll."

"That's disgusting Castle, do not ever call me baby doll or you will be crying like one."

"Point taken," Castle raised his hands in mock surrender.

As a punishment, Castle had to down three shots of tequila.

"So, any scoop on this new friend of yours?" asked Castle

"Mind your own business."

"Writer's intuition," he said casually

"You say that so casually that you make me wonder how many times have you repeated that to any person"

"I kinda lost track. Ziva?"

"Well, things got complicated at work for her so she had to move and that's all I'm gonna say."

"Hmmm. Fair enough." Replied Castle

At Kate's apartment

Ziva had thrown up again. She was suspecting that something was fish. Or was it fishy. Who cares? She would have to go see a doctor. But she was just starting out at the precinct. Skipping your first week of work was not exactly the best thing to do as a building impression. She would just have to put the visit to the doctor on hold for a few weeks.

Three weeks later,

Ziva had been given her official NYPD precinct badge. She had slogged like hell for the past two weeks and finally, she was approved for official and proper field work.

It was one fine day, the team was chasing down a lead on their latest case. They were down at Greenwich chasing a suspect at a back alley. Ziva had sprinted ahead before the detectives. She felt a wave of extreme nausea come over her. She fell to the ground and a throbbing headache started. She saw the suspect fade away further down into the alley way and she knocked out into blackness. The last thing she heard was Kate screaming for backup.

At the hospital,

Ziva woke up and saw Kate and the team chatting with a doctor outside her ward. Wait. Hospital? What happened to her?

Kate noticed Ziva getting up and noted the doctor. The doctor walked in with a stern face.

"Hi Ziva, how are you feeling?"

"What. What is going on?"

"Ziva, you passed out while chasing down a suspect." Reminded Kate

"Why?"

"Congratulations Miss David, you're pregnant." Reported the doctor

"WHAT?" yelled Ziva

"I take it you didn't know?" Said the doctor

"WHAT? How… How can this be?"

"Most women ignore the signs and only consult a doctor when the symptoms worsen dramatically."

"Do you know who is the dad?" asked Kate

"I shall take my leave," the doctor said and excused himself

"I… I don't know." Ziva said

"Think hard." Said Kate

Ziva sat on the hospital bed, she thought real hard and it came to her. That day, he went over for a movie night. They drank a little too much and it went over board

"Oh no, I just realized."

"Who?" said Kate with a hint of urgency in her voice

"Tony."

"Oh boy," Whispered Kate

Back at NCIS,

There were some inconsistencies in Ducky's report. Ducky was evaluating through.

"No traces of human ash were found at the scene." Ducky was confused

"This can't be right." He thought to himself. "I will have to double confirm my findings with Mr Palmer."

Back at New York,

The weeks went by in a flash, Ziva soon started to show and was taken off from field work. She and Adam were now serious. Adam seemed fine with Ziva's pregnancy and the fact that it was not his child. Both of them were very much in love. For once, Ziva had a shot at something permanent.

Ziva gave birth with Adam by her side. The whole team was there for her. She named her new born princess, Aria Talia Dinozzo. She had to at least have a quality of her dad which she would never ever see. Aria had Ziva's hair and had Tony's hazel eyes. Castle and Kate bought her lots of toys and Ryan, Esposito and Lanie all babied her when they came over occasionally to visit. Both Adam and Ziva took care of her during her weeks of maternity leave. Aria grew up and was off to school in no time.

A year later,

Kate and the team were all hard at work, this one was a tough case. Ziva had gone home earlier as her regular nanny had to attend to something and could not take care of Aria for the night.

Ryan's phone desk rang, he picked it up after finishing his last sip of coffee.

"Detective Ryan here,"

"Hello detective Ryan, this is special agent Timothy McGee of NCIS."

"The navy cops? What is this about if I may ask?"

"We believe that a current case that your team is working on may be linked to one of ours."

"Hold on, let me connect you to our team leader, detective Beckett. Please hold."

"Yo Beckett! Got a call coming in for you, a special agent named Timothy McGee from NCIS."

"Bring it in."

In a few seconds, Kate's phone rang. She picked it up quickly.

"Beckett,"

"Hello detective Beckett," answered McGee

"Is this regarding the Navy killer?"

"Yes,"

The Navy killer was a serial killer killing naval officers as he (as they determined) held a grudge against them when his father died in the navy as their precinct psychologist profiled him.

The two detectives had a conversation for quite a while. The team had agreed that the NCIS team would come down on Friday and collaborate on this case. After disconnecting, Kate alerted Captain Gates and her team. She had to warn Ziva in private for this one.

At Ziva's new apartment (which was right next door to Kate's),

Ziva was helping Aria with her homework when the door knocked. Adam went to answer it,

"Hey Adam," greeted Kate

"Hey! What brings you here?" Adam stepped aside and let Kate go in

"I have something I need to tell Ziva in private." Kate said as she entered

"Oh, sounds big." Replied Adam

He led Kate to the living room where Ziva was with Aria

"Hey Kate!" called Ziva

"Hey. I have something I need to tell you privately." Said Kate

Adam went over and told Aria that he would bring her out for some ice-cream and help her with her homework while Ziva talked. Aria nodded enthusiastically, pecked Ziva sweetly on the forehead, said goodbye to Kate and went off with Adam.

Ziva got Kate a drink and settled down on the couch. Kate got the ball rolling

"So Ziva, I need to tell you that your old NCIS team will be back this Friday to collaborate on a case with us, the Navy killer one."

Ziva was speechless. "What?" were the only words that left Ziva's lips.

"You okay Zi?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little, taken affront."

"Aback."

"Right, that. So they will be here this Friday?"

"Yes, do you need me to take you out of this case or something?"

"No, no. I'm fine. You do not have to take me out of this big case just because my past. I'm cold."

"You mean cool right?"

"Yes, of course. Never really understood your American slang,"

"Okay, I'm glad you're taking this well."

"Sure, I will be prepared for this Friday."

Little did Ziva know that she needed to be prepared for more than just the reunion.

**R&R please!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sup'**

**Shut up to my sister. Anyway, here's chapter 6. Both The Blue Butterfly and the 200****th**** episode were pretty sweet. Not too shabby. Shout out to desperatebones for constantly reviewing and for that encouragement via Tumblr. Thank you so much!**

**Just to clear one thing up, there was no Tiva baby, it's just my vast imagination of the events that took place after the death of Mike Franks. Now, with that out of the way, here's chapter 6!**

**(Happy early Valentine's day! XX)**

Chapter 6:

Soon, Friday rolled around, Ziva got up extra early and went for an extra-long jog to burn off some of her nervousness. Why was she feeling so jittery? She didn't know. She got home, prepared breakfast for Aria and let the nanny take over.

She kissed Aria goodbye and took her time to head off to work. She wanted to be there after the team had arrived.

Meanwhile, at the NCIS team's hotel,

Tony got up to an empty bed. Alison had passed away in the field in November, it was a highly depressing period for him. He felt all alone again. No Ziva, no Alison. But, little did he know that all that was about to change.

He took a quick shower and met both McGee and Gibbs down in the lobby, Gibbs wanted to get a quick head start before the guy strikes again.

At the 12th precinct,

Ziva had given Kate a heads up that she would be late today, she needed time to prepare herself to see her old team again. Kate understood and started off without her first. Castle came in a little while after Beckett clocked in and Ryan and Esposito clocked in at the same time.

Kate was lecturing Castle,

"Be professional and try not to look like an idiot okay? This team is different, they would need to have a good impression of the team that Ziva is working with."

"Wait, back it up. Ziva used to work with them?"

"Took you long enough, tried to tell you but you were too busy signing some girl's chest."

"Hey! At least I didn't write my number okay!"

"Whatever, just be… professional."

"I am."

Kate rolled her eyes and sighed. She briefed the other guys and went off to get some coffee.

About half an hour later,

Team Gibbs made their way up to the squad room to see Castle attempting to do the moonwalk and both Ryan and Esposito were smacking each other's butts.

"I'd rate that at a fifty out of a hundred." Said Ryan

"You kidding me bro? This ass is quality yo!"

Castle stopped dancing and noticed the team staring at them.

"Code red, code red!" alerted Castle

Esposito, Ryan and Castle stopped whatever nonsense they were doing and pretended to go through case reports while Castle texted Beckett.

"Code red!"

"Got it," she replied

Kate appeared from the elevator and walked towards her desk. Gibbs noticed her at her desk with the plaque that read her name and went over.

"Detective Beckett?" he asked

She smiled up at him and held out her hand,

"Correct, agent Gibbs?"

He nodded and they shook hands. She introduced her team and Gibbs introduced his.

"I have one more team member but I'm sure you all know her." Said Kate

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Tony quizzically

As if on cue, Ziva stepped out of the elevator with a cup of Starbucks, a box of donuts and was listening to her I-Pod. She was humming the tune to Animal by Neon Trees.

She did a little twirl and walked to her desk, she bought a plaque that said, "Detective Ziva David" and placed it proudly on her desk. She pulled out her ear plugs and noticed that her old team was all staring at her in genuine shock.

She walked over and opened the donut box.

"For Espo, classic sugar coated," she handed the donut to him and he accepted it gratefully.

"For Ryan, white chocolate with cream filling," She handed him the donut and he chomped it down

"Kate, I got you the Oreo flavored one," she handed it to her and she said her thanks.

"Oh, sorry Castle, I forgot all about you! Damn it!"

"How could you!" he exclaimed childishly

"Kidding, I got you the plain chocolate one, we all know how much you love chocolate."

He accepted it and took a dramatic bow.

She turned to her old team. "As expected, I knew Gibbs would make you guys come early." She said

But? How? What? Were just some of the few words exchanged among team Gibbs.

"Anyway, I'll answer whatever queries you have later. Right now, we have a serial killer on our hands. Kate, care to get the egg rolling?"

"Ball, ball rolling." Corrected Kate

"Right, that."

With that, Kate got started on whatever evidence they gathered. Both teams exchanged information. Tony, however, was finding it hard to focus, he kept staring at Ziva. He was baffled but yet elated that Ziva had not been wiped off the face of this earth yet. He might grab this chance while he had it.

Meanwhile,

Adam was in his apartment, at a hidden room of his apartment. He had pictures of Ziva and her team investigating the case, made notes on their progress and took secret shots of them at crime scenes. He especially focused on Ziva a lot.

There was a whiteboard, on it, were the pictures of the military men he had executed. All these men were linked back to his father's old unit. He believed in his heart that he was seeking vengeance for his dad. They were responsible for the death of his father. They were supposed to look out for each other, yet, they abandoned him for the sake of their own survival. The unit leader even moved up the ranks when he returned from the mission. He had a photo of the next victim he was going to take down.

He had a plan, to gain Ziva and Aria's trust and later on make use of them to hinder the case and not get his ass in jail.

Adam knew that no one could stop him now.

**R&R please! Yes, I do love Neon Trees! Tree Hugger in the house!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Eh, eh, eh!**

**So, it's been a looong time since I last updated, real sorry for that. School got hectic and you know what goes on. So sorry! I might not be able to update in a while, I'm auditioning for my school musical and if I get a part, life is going to become mad. I'll try.**

**PS: I'm going to Evanescence live in Singapore and I scored backstage passes! Just thought you guys should know. Not trying to be a showboat or anything. I'm just soooo excited!**

**Now, onto chapter 7!**

Chapter 7:

Soon, it was after hours at the 12th precinct. Kate's team all left to give Ziva some privacy. Ziva was leaning against her desk as her ex-team bombarded her with piles and piles of questions. Everyone was all yelling their questions out.

"Hold on! Hold on!" Ziva yelled

Everyone stopped talking, Ziva took in a deep sigh and began speaking about what happened over the past one year. She left out the Aria part out, that would be for some other time. Or would it?

"So basically, I moved here when I was supposedly "dead". I started afresh and I think I'm quite happy here." Ziva said coolly

Meanwhile,

Castle and the boys had not gone home. They did the exact opposite of that, they stayed. They stayed and they were eavesdropping in on Ziva's conversation with her old team.

Kate was clever, she knew her team would not back off so easily, especially Castle. That sneaky, cute little rascal, did she just think of Castle as cute? No, no, no. Get that thought out. What was wrong with her?

Kate crept up slowly towards the dynamic trio. They failed to notice in time and Kate startled them so hard that Castle actually squealed which caused Ziva to turn around.

"So much for privacy! Really guys?"

"I wasn't even…" replied Kate

"Then why are you there?"

"I… Bah, forget it."

The team stepped forward to Ziva's desk and all said their apologies. At that moment, there was a cry of a little girl that echoed throughout the room.

"Mummy! Mummy!" Aria yelled and dashed towards Ziva's desk.

Ziva got up and went over to carry Aria,

"Hey davash, what are you doing here?

Aria greeted the rest of the team before answering the question

"I finished my homework early so Uncle Adam brought me here."

"Well where is he sweetie?"

"He went to buy something called coffee."

Tony was stunned, did she call Ziva mummy, wait, back the truck up. What?

"Ziva, can I speak to you for a moment?" piped in Tony

"Who's that?" asked Aria

"An old friend," Ziva put Aria down. "Go play with Auntie Kate and Uncle Rick for a while." And she went off to talk to Castle and Beckett.

Tony and Ziva headed for a quiet corner.

"That's your daughter?" asked Tony

"Yes." Ziva replied calmly

"Who's the dad? Who's this Adam guy?"

Ziva bit her lip and remained quiet for some time, guess it was time to let the dog out of the bag. Wait, cat,

"So, Adam is my boyfriend and he has been helping me look out for Aria for the past one year."

"Okay then." Tony tried to hide the disappointment on his face, "So about the other question, is he like the dad or something?"

"Umm, remember the day after Mike passed away, you came over and we you know. Did that." She tried to explain.

"No, no way, we used protection."

"Which not always works." She struggled to say

'Does this mean?"

"Yes, she's your daughter, Aria Talia Dinozzo."

Tony was beyond shocked, flabbergasted was the word.

"It's okay if you don't want her to know. I mean, you have Alison and all."

At Alison's name, Tony's face dropped.

"Speaking of which, where is she?" asked Ziva

"She… She passed away in November on the field."

Ziva was taken aback

"Oh. Wow. I am so sorry."

"It's all cool, you move on I guess."

"So about Aria?"

"You can tell her after I leave."

"Okay. I'm so sorry for not telling you that you had a daughter. It was hard on me."

Tony gave her a small reassuring smile, "I understand."

The next day,

Ziva was sound asleep, it was about 0400 when her peaceful sleep was interrupted.

Her cell phone rang, Ziva immediately reacted and grabbed her phone so as to not wake Aria up.

"David,"

"Hey Ziva, we need you down here, got a new vic. Same MO as the navy killer."

"Got it, on my way." She hung up and went to put a pot of hot water on to prepare tea. She texted the nanny to get breakfast and prepare Aria for school, surely she would see the text when she got up.

Ziva crept into Aria's room ninja style and pecked Aria lightly on the forehead before taking a shower and having breakfast. She washed up and left the house.

At the crime scene in Brooklyn,

Ziva was taking in the cool light morning air of New York. Even at 05 30, there were still cars out and about. New York is reputable for being the city that never sleeps.

"Morning guys!" Ziva called out to the team

Esposito and Ryan both gave a little wave. Kate and Lanie greeted her back.

"Where's Castle?" asked Ziva

"Sleeping beauty's not picking up his phone. Kid needs his sleep." Said Kate in a teasing tone

Ziva laughed, "So, what can our most talented, the one and only, Lanie Parish tell us?"

Lanie smiled at and took a bow "Usual cause of death, same weapon probably, Swiss army knife. Military classic,"

Ziva nodded and took down some mental notes, Ryan and Esposito were back from suspect questioning.

"So witnesses say that they heard nothing much and that they were all "asleep" as I quote."

"Don't wanna get involved in this mess I'm sure." Said Kate, she rolled her eyes, typical.

"But, one of them did say that he heard a struggle, there was some slamming against walls and some yelling." Said Ryan

"So he put up a fight. Lanie, there must be some defensive wounds, there might be some DNA."

"On it girl,"

The NCIS members arrived down at the scene not long after, the two teams collected some evidence and sent it down to the labs. After which both of the teams left for the 12th.

**R&R please! (Davash means honey in Hebrew by the way, I'm not sure if it's right, you can correct me in your review if I'm wrong.)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey there!**

**Sorry that I have not updated in such an extremely long time! School life became emotionally draining for me, I needed a break from writing. I apologize for that. Here's a climatic chapter (well, at least I perceive it to be) for you guys. The Hunger Games! March 23! Speaking of which, I will be doing a Hunger Games/NCIS crossover soon! Sounds ridiculous, I know. But please give it a shot! I'll try and make it up to standard and raise the bar for that one. That will be for later, now, onto chapter 8!**

Chapter 8:

Night dawned upon them, both the 12th precinct and team NCIS made quite some progress. They were about to clock out until Kate came out from Captain 'Iron' Gates' office. Kate motioned for both teams to come back in.

"So guys, there's a big function coming up and a lot of our service men are going to be there. I'm sure you all know what that means."

"Our serial killer could be there." Suggested McGee

"That's correct agent McGee. We need eyes on that event, in and outside. That's why, agent Dinozzo and detective David will be our inside eyes."

Ziva was about to make a comment but bit her lip. Tony on the other hand, looked pretty pleased.

"Any problems with the arrangement?"

Silence answered her question, "Good then, we will dwell into further details tomorrow. Dismissed."

Gibbs brought his team aside for a private briefing. Captain Gates stepped out and called Ziva over.

"Detective David," addressed the captain.

"Sir." She responded

"I saw your reaction back at the bull pen. I called for this arrangement. You seem to be quite, uncomfortable with it. Are we on any disagreements or strong protests here detective David?"

"No ma…, I mean sir."

"Good, I hope it stays that way, dismissed. By the way, I heard that special agent Gibbs can be very dominating on cases, why the sudden change in persona on this one?"

"I'm not sure myself sir. Sorry."

"It's probably nothing, take care on the way back detective."

"Thank you sir, goodnight." Ziva flashed a small smile and took her leave.

Captain Gates leaned back in her chair for quite some time thinking and then switched off her table lamp and left.

At Ziva's apartment,

Kate was helping Ziva picking out a dress, she had tried on several dresses but none of them seemed right for the occasion. Even Aria was stating her own opinions while seated on Kate's lap in a very cute manner that made Ziva smile. Finally, there was this one dressed that seemed appropriate and complimented all of Ziva's unique features.

It was a black strapless dress that just touched her knees and she wore black pumps to match. Kate styled her hair and made it wavy. Tomorrow night, she would put on the real makeup and dress up for real. For now, it was beauty sleep time. Kate was staying over for some girl to girl time as Adam was out of town.

Kate lay beside Ziva after she tucked Aria in. They were staring at the celling. Kate broke the silence.

"So, you nervous?"

"Why would I be?"

"I don't know, I mean, going on a 'date' with the guy you once loved. Wouldn't that be awkward?"

"Yes, I'll try not to think about it, thanks for not reminding me."

"Well, I'm sorry."

"It's alright, I am a tad nervous."

"Just relax and be natural. Let me help you try and loosen up."

Kate walked over to Ziva's speakers and plugged in her I-phone. Soon, soft jazz music filled the room.

"Dance Ziva, dance to the music."

"What?"

Kate walked over to the bed and pulled Ziva up. Both of them partnered up as dance partners, Kate assuming the role of the guy, Ziva the lady. They were dancing freestyle according to the music on her playlist. One minute it was jazz, the next minute alternative rock and a whole stretch of variety.

Both ladies collapsed back on the bed, laughing hysterically at each other's silly dance moves. They were exhausted. On that note, both of them took their showers and went to bed.

The next day,

Ziva felt that the day went by really quickly, and soon, it was time for the function. Ziva was back at home with Kate getting ready. Ziva took a Sakura scented bath, she put on a silk robe and let Kate do her hair. Kate helped her slip on her dress. The nanny arrived and took care of Aria. Adding the final touches to her makeup, both ladies left together for the function.

At the venue,

Kate was giving a briefing for both teams,

"So, Ziva, you'll get these Bluetooth operated earrings, just press lightly on the diamond to communicate with us back in the van and we can do vice versa, agent Dinozzo, your Bluetooth device will come in a form of cufflinks. Ziva, you will get a compact foundation mirror camera, hit the small concealed button underneath the foundation powder to take pictures."

"Hey! Why does she get more cool spy gadgets than me!" whined Tony

Gibbs smacked him hard, "Got it boss."

Ziva strapped guns on her upper thighs and Tony wore camouflaging holsters. The couple exited the van discreetly.

Tony could not take his eyes off Ziva. She looked absolutely stunning. She smelled really good as well. What was it? Sakura scented? He was so immersed in his thoughts that he wasn't aware that Ziva was trying to catch his attention.

"Tony, Tony, Tony!" Ziva nudged him in the ribs.

"Ouch! What? Who fell?"

"No one fell, maybe you if you keep on daydreaming."

"Sorry, by the way, you look gorgeous tonight Zi."

"Thank… Thank you. You do not look so bad yourself." Ziva felt her cheeks turning hot.

They entered the function, Ziva's arm was linked around Tony's. Anyone would believe that they were an item. Ziva wandered off on her own to socialize with some people and possibly catch their perp. Tony stood around awkwardly drinking glass after glass of champagne.

"Dinozzo, make yourself useful please." Whispered Gibbs through the Bluetooth device

"Like what?"

"Geez Dinozzo, you're an agent, go figure. This isn't your first formal function."

'But they're all men! I can't use my charm!"

"Who knows Dinozzo, one of them might be gay." Teased McGee

"Shut up Mcgay."

"Do something before I smack your head all the way to the end of this earth."

'I'll try boss."

"Here's a tip, stop drowning yourself in champagne."

"It's good stuff boss."

"Dinozzo…"

"On it boss."

Ziva was talking to this one guy who had her attention. She excused herself to the bathroom to powder her nose and talk to the teams about this guy's suspicious character.

The mystery guy took a white pill out of his pocket and dropped it into a drink. Ziva arrived back a few minutes later and downed the drink innocently to avoid any suspicion.

A few minutes later, Ziva felt a little queasy and sick. Damn it, she knew the champagne smelled funny, the last thing she remembered before blacking out was someone lifting her off the ground and heading out to the courtyard.

**R&R please! I don't' really like the ending though.**

**If you want to imagine how Ziva looks, just think back to the Alma awards (which she rightly won!). Imagine the exact same look except that the dress is shorter.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi,**

**I know that I was on hiatus for a really long time. Sorry about that! I had my exams to cram for. Geez, it's been really long now has it? Sorry! On to the story!**

Chapter 9:

"Where in the world was Ziva?" Tony wondered to himself. He had walked throughout the ballroom and checked (with a few glares) the ladies room.

"Maybe the courtyard," he thought and made his way towards the glass doors.

At the courtyard,

The mystery man had Ziva pinned down to the ground and had used his tie to muffle her cries. She was frantically struggling but whatever she had been drugged with was making her feel groggy.

He took out a pocket knife and started to cut away at her dress. She flashed back to a certain Somalia terrorist camp.

Not again, not this time. She couldn't let her weakness overcome her.

Still, she froze. Tears were welling up at her eyes in fear. She felt weak and she hated it. Until she heard Tony's voice,

"Hey! Get off her you son of a bitch!"

The man grabbed Ziva by her hair and held his pocket knife to her throat.

"Move and she dies."

"If you dare hurt her I swear I'm gonna…"

At that time, the NYPD and NCIS busted in,

"NYIS, put the weapon down slowly!" both team leaders looked at each other. The unintended combined name sounded odd.

The man looked faltered for a moment and dropped the knife, he pushed Ziva to the ground. He took off only to be stopped by Esposito and McGee.

Tony ran over to Ziva and helped her up, he undid the tie knot on her mouth,

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

She shook her head slowly. The NYPD took over and cuffed the man.

Gibbs and Kate came over,

"Ziva, I think that's enough work for you in one night, go home and get some rest." Said Kate

"But…"

"No buts. Go home."

Ziva nodded in defeat.

"Dinozzo, take her home."

"On it boss."

Tony led Ziva to his car and did the gentlemanly thing of opening the door to the passenger seat for her. She flashed him a small smile and got in.

In Tony's car,

"Are you…?"

"I am fine."

"You don't seem fine."

Ziva ran her fingers through her hair.

"Just fine." She muttered softly.

Tony walked Ziva up to her apartment.

"Here you are, need anything else?" Tony asked

"No, I will be fine thank you." Ziva replied

"Goodnight detective." Tony said with a charming smile.

She flashed a dazzling smile back. "Goodnight agent Dinozzo."

He was about to head off when she pulled him back and pecked him on the cheek.

"Wha…"

"That was for being my prince charming and my hero tonight." She said with a wink.

Tony stood there with a baffled expression. She blew a kiss and disappeared behind the door.

She was fine after all.

Meanwhile,

Adam dragged the now deceased service a man behind a dumpster, the bastard was supposed to be his father's best friend back in the war. But, he was in fact, the one who suggested that they had to abandon his father to move on. He had to pay for that.

The next day,

Ziva was the first one in the office. She couldn't get much sleep and decided to get up for an early jog and head to work. She read through the interrogation report,

"The suspect admitted that he found detective David "cute" and drugged her drink to have some "fun"."

"Gross," she thought. She went to the murder board and doodled on the flip side of the board out of boredom.

Castle sneaked into the precinct and poked Ziva's hips. Ziva, being the ninja she was, turned around and flipped Castle to the floor.

"Ouch! What is wrong with you?"

"Good morning Castle," Ziva said with an innocent smile.

"Don't give me that face."

"What face?" she said still smiling.

Kate stepped in and went over to Castle,

"Preparing for an earthquake Castle?"

"Shut it."

Kate helped him up.

"So, where are we on this?"

"Nothing, the guy yesterday was just a pervert."

Ziva sighed. Castle bit into a donut.

"Got any theories earthquake predictor?"

"Well, I was thinking about the profile of this guy,"

"Go on,"

"The killer must be a guy, service men are very strong and all of our victims have defensive marks on their bodies suggesting that they all put up a fight. They all seem to be either ambushed or they must know their killer. If not, they would have done what Ziva did to me, attack."

Ziva took a bow

"Okay, so Castle, what you're saying is that we can start by finding a connection between these men besides the fact that they are service men."

"Exactly what I'm saying,"

The three of them went to get coffee and headed back to the precinct to continue the case.

"Hey Beckett," called Ryan after a few hours into searching

"What?"

"Got another one, NCIS already started processing,"

"How did they get alerted first?"

"Because they were sweeping the ballroom from yesterday as you told them to and they found a body at the back dumpster and they called it in."

"Let's go!" Kate called out.

At the crime scene,

Lanie was kneeled next to their latest victim,

"COD's gunshot wounds to the chest. I'll put TOD around 2200-2300pm last night, also, this guy managed to get something off his killer."

Lanie handed Kate a dog tag, Ziva gasped.

Was that….

"Anything wrong Ziva?"

"N… Nothing. I'll go sweep the crime scene once more." Ziva said and hurried off.

Ziva did more than just sweep the crime scene, she needed to clear her head. She dialed the familiar number, only to be brought to voice mail. She sighed and disconnected. McGee bumped into Ziva,

"Sorry!"

"It's okay."

"McGee!"

"Hey Ziva, We haven't spoken in a while! How are you?" McGee asked in his usual innocent and cheery way.

"I've been better. How about you and Abby?"

'She's dying to see you again."

"Sorry to let her hopes down but I won't be going back."

"Wouldn't bet on it."

Ziva shot him a puzzled look. McGee grinned.

"Are you still writing?"

"Yes! Of course! I'm getting all sorts of good advice from Mr. Castle."

Ziva found it odd to hear Castle addressed with a salutation.

"What's that?" she asked nodding towards the evidence bag.

"Some bullet rounds," replied McGee

"Caliber?" asked Ziva

"Probably a 45,"

Ziva froze, that was the gun that…

"You okay?"

"Urm, yeah. You should probably get that to Gibbs."

"Oh yes! He's gonna kill me! See you soon?"

Ziva smiled warmly. McGee smiled back and scurried off.

Things were not adding up right now for Ziva.

**R&R please! Who likes Pixie Lott? I'm going for her private showcase! So exciting!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys,**

**I know that it's been decades since I last wrote. I don't have any excuses for that, adding up that I had no time and laziness. Really really sorry for that! I promise that I'll try my very best to update more regularly as my one month summer vacation is coming up in about a week's time. Maybe then I'll have time to start on another new story when I'm done with this one… Look out for it! For now, enjoy! Oohh, chapter 10 already! Think I deserve more reviews yes?**

Chapter 10,

After what seemed like ages, Ziva was free to go. She had many things running through her mind. Why his dog tag was with the victim? How did it get there and what did Adam have to do with all this? She drove like a madwoman through rush hour traffic down in Brooklyn and actually made it home in quite a jiffy.

It was about 2200 when she reached home. She figured that Aria would already be in bed and Adam would be up watching football. True enough, Adam was stretched out rather comfortably on the couch with a bowl of popcorn. Upon her arrival, Adam greeted her,

"Hey babe, you're late. That rhymed,"

He got up to peck Ziva on the cheek but she stepped back.

"What's wrong sweetheart?"

"I'm curious to know, where were you the night I was undercover?"

"I was out at the movies with an old friend, what's up?"

"Are you sure?"

"What are you implying?"

"I found something rather disturbing at a recent crime scene."

Adam grew silent

"I found my latest victim clutching your dog tags. They are a match to yours which speaking of, where are they?"

"I had to take them off cos' they became rusty and as for your victim. I can't explain why he had matching dog tags."

"Do you know a lieutenant James Banks?"

"I don't know who that is and how he got my dog tags. Sweetie, you have to believe me. Don't you trust me?"

"I do, it's just… I needed to be sure. I am a detective and I have to do my job. Please understand okay?"

"It's okay babe." He embraced her

But deep down inside, Ziva had this gut wrenching feeling that she just couldn't shake off.

The next day,

Ziva's phone woke her abruptly from her slumber.

"David."

"Rise and shine, got a new body."

'I don't see any shine, it's only 0300 am."

"… Point taken, get here ASAP."

Ziva disconnected the call and dragged herself reluctantly out of bed. She noticed a note when she walked out on the kitchen counter.

"Hey babe, gone for a road trip, will be back in about 4 or 5 days. Love you, miss you and hope to see you real soon. XOXO

-Adam"

She sighed, that incredibly strong gut-wrenching feeling was still there. Something told her that this road trip wasn't very much right.

She just shrugged it off as fatigue and went for a shower.

At the crime scene,

"Victim's name is Katherine Samuels, or sergeant Katherine Samuels, COD same as the Navy killer's MO. Time of death at around midnight to 0100 am." Explained Lanie

Ziva, Beckett and Gibbs were huddled up as the morning chill of New York was evident even in the morning. A few minutes later, Castle popped by with a cup of coffee for Kate and only Kate. Earning himself a death glare from Ziva. Gibbs on the other hand, had already made McGee hunt a cup for him.

Tony came by the crime scene and saw Ziva shivering. He offered his cup of coffee to her.

"Here you go. Seems like you need it more than I do,"

"But, I cannot just…"

"It's okay, Dinozzo men aren't afraid of a little chilly weather." He flashed his signature charming smile that warmed her right up.

"Then thank you very much agent Dinozzo." She smiled her mega-watt smile back and graciously accepted the coffee cup.

Back at the precinct,

Both teams were gathered at the murder board. They were examining the evidence. But to no avail, even Castle had run out of ground breaking theories.

Out of the blue, Ziva flashed back to the note left on the counter by Adam. That was at three am in the morning. She remembered waking up to use the restroom at 12.30 am and Adam wasn't at her bedside. In fact, his side of the bed wasn't even messy.

That was fishy… Lost in her thoughts, Ziva didn't hear Kate calling her name.

"Ziva, Ziva, ZIVA!"

"Huh? What?"

"I've been trying to get your attention for 30 seconds already! Are you okay?"

"Fine, more than fine. I'm great! Geez, I am hungry! I'm going to go out for lunch! See you later!" Ziva grabbed her coat and dashed out of the precinct.

Not only Beckett but the others were baffled by her weird behavior. Something was definitely up.

All of a sudden, Tony became very worried.

At Ziva's apartment,

Ziva was digging through her trash can for the note. Once she finally found it, she read it over and over and saw that Adam wrote something so hard that it was imprinted on the paper. She flipped the note to the other side and used a pencil to shade it.

It was the address of the crime scene.

Okay, this was getting officially freaky. She pocketed the note and headed back to the crime scene.

At the crime scene,

She ducked underneath the yellow cordon tape and walked down the crime scene. There was a dumpster nearby and she decided to take the risk and searched it.

Ziva came up from her dumpster dive. She stank like hell but on the other hand, she found an identical slip of folded paper from Adam's notebook. She recognized the handwriting as Adam's. She unfolded the paper. On the paper, there was the name of the victim, the exact time of death and these bits of information were canceled out in red sharpie marker.

Back at the precinct,

Ziva came in from her supposed "lunch break" and went over to her desk. Ignoring the concerned looks flashed from both teams. Castle boldly went up.

"Ziva are you okay?"

He smelt her stench and asked another question,

"Where did you go? You smell bad."

Ziva slammed her desk drawer hardly which made Castle jump.

"Excuse me, I need to go take a shower." Said Ziva softly

She gently shoved Castle aside and flashed him an apologetic look. She grabbed her bag of spare clothes and headed for the precinct shower room.

In the shower,

Ziva was processing her thoughts while the warm water ran down the shower head and onto her body. She needed to get away or not, she'd be dead meat.

Later,

After what again seemed like ages. Ziva dashed back home. Thank God Aria was staying over at her friend's place. That made things easier for her briefly packed up Aria's things and proceeded on to pack her own stuff.

While rummaging through her closet and running up and down her apartment frantically, she bumped into a loose wooden wall board, she shoved it aside and found that there was a door. She opened it and what was greeted her was horrifying.

Pictures of her team and herself hung on the walls, pictures of the victims faces were crossed out with a red sharpie. The sharpie also circled on her face and she realized that most of the pictures were focused on her. A big portrait hung on the wall, the portrait was of his deceased dad. Now, it all clicked. His dad was in the same platoon as the victims while they were on tour in Afghanistan and he mentioned that his dad died in service while on tour.

She had to get out.

Suddenly, the door knob turned.

Ziva froze.

**R&R please!**

**Pixie's showcase was so fun! She is so sweet and such an absolute doll!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hai there!**

**It's been long since I updated. Sorry **

**Shout out to Merel Hovener, Robern, Jackie, easylion and Trine for your lovely reviews and for your support! Much love to you guys! Mwah!**

**Please review? That's the only way I improve. Plus, you can give me suggestions! Thanks to all who are constantly supporting the story even though you don't review! I acknowledge your presence!**

**Easing on the chit chat, onto the story!**

Chapter 11

The door opened slowly, it was Kate who came over and by using her spare key, had excess to Ziva and Adam's apartment.

"Ziva? Aria? Adam?" she called out

Silence greeted the detective.

"That's odd, Ziva should've been home already." Kate shook it off and reminded herself to ask Ziva about it.

With that, Kate left the apartment stealthily.

Ziva took in a deep breath and crept in cautiously from the fire escape.

She picked up her luggage, hopped into her car and headed off to her booked motel. At the motel, she made a call to the mum of Aria's sleepover mate and said that instead of Adam fetching Aria, she will be doing it instead.

Ziva disconnected the call, showered and went to try and get some sleep.

The next day,

Ziva was up early to go for her daily jog and to pick up Aria. After dropping off Aria at school, she headed off to work with a cup of coffee in an attempt to try and hide her fatigue.

Before heading up to the squad room, Ziva went to the ladies room and applied on another layer of makeup to hide the dark eye circles. After convincing herself that she looked presentable enough, she headed up to the squad room.

Up at the squad room,

Both teams were staring up at the murder board, two heads were better than one. Ziva abruptly entered the squad room.

Ziva slid down to her desk and sighed at the paper work left at her desk. Esposito came over

"Mornin' Zi, the paper work was from the night you went undercover, so fill em' out and hand that to captain Gates okay?" he said gently

She nodded her head slowly. Esposito left a donut on her desk and gave her a pat on the shoulder.

Kate kept her gaze on Ziva. Something was bugging her. She made a self- reminder to ask her about last night soon.

Kate wasn't the only one looking. Gibbs could read Ziva like a book. He knew that look, that behavior. Something was up.

At lunch,

Ziva scurried off to fetch Aria before Adam could get the chance to. Luckily, she arrived at Aria's friend's house earlier. She picked her up and scurried off to their motel. The motel was a hard to locate one. Out in the middle of nowhere. Since it was a holiday, Aria stayed in the motel and watched Barbie movies.

"Mommy, where's daddy?"

"Well, umm. He needs a break from us for some time. So I decided to check us in here for the time being." Ziva lied

Aria, being a little innocent girl, accepted that answer and went back to her movie. Ziva contacted the regular sweet nanny who was really flexible to come over and watch Aria. Half and hour later, the nanny arrived. It took her some time to find this out-of-place motel.

Ziva hurried back to work and made it barely on time to the precinct only managing to grab a burrito at Taco bell on the way back.

Another body got brought in during lunch break, Ziva and Kate went down to get Lanie's findings.

On the elevator ride down, Kate was looking at Ziva nervously. Ziva noticed and snapped at Kate,

"What? If you have something to say, just say it already."

Kate was taken aback by Ziva's cranky attitude

"Fine, you know what? Everyone on both teams is worried sick about you! You have been acting like some lifeless zombie. You think I don't notice the bags under your eyes, how unfocused you are at work and your absent mindlessness out on the field. What the hell is going on Ziva?"

Ziva looked like she was about to cry. Kate felt really guilty then,

"Sorry, I didn't mean to lash out…"

"It is okay Kate, I want to apologize for being such a, what do you call it, a wreck."

"Don't be sorry. I just wanna know what is going on."

The elevator landed at the morgue level and Ziva walked out quickly to avoid answering the question. Kate sighed, so much for being saved by the bell. This time actually being killed by the bell. Kate walked out to catch up with Ziva.

That night Ziva returned to the motel and saw that Aria was already put to bed by the nanny and she was just packing up to leave. Ziva offered her a ride home but she politely declined saying that she had other plans. She smiled graciously and took her leave.

Ziva then decided that she most definitely could not sleep. She decided to stay up and read through the profiles of all the victims.

The next day,

Ziva dropped off Aria at school and thankfully, Adam wasn't there to do anything funny. "Probably off plotting his revenge plan." She thought.

She stopped by Starbucks and got herself a cup of coffee and a banana nut muffin.

At the precinct, she realized that she was the earliest in the bullpen. She checked the wall clock: 0700 am. Usually she would be here at 09.30 am as Adam was the one to drop Aria in school. Geez, what was she going to do.

She went over to the murder board, she noticed that there were still some empty spots of information that only Ziva knew that were still not filled out. She was tempted to fill them out but refrained from doing so.

But what she did was fill in the blanks for the "connection" she wrote "same platoon". She capped the marker and wrote down personal notes.

Gibbs filed in next. Surprisingly, alone. Gibbs noticed that Ziva was alone and decided to go over and catch up with his former agent.

"Ziver," he said in a warm voice

Ziva jumped and turned around. She stood up and felt the urge to embrace him. Gibbs must have sensed this as he extended his arms. Ziva willingly walked into them. He wrapped her in a gentle hug. Oh boy did she miss these. He pecked her on the forehead and got down to business.

"I haven't got the chance to talk to you yet Ziver. How are you?"

"I'm fine Gibbs."

"Don't seem that way."

"Why does everyone say that?"

"Cause it's a fact."

Ziva sighed and kept silent.

"Well whatever it is, remember this Ziver, secrets are like time bombs. They explode sooner or later. Teams don't keep secrets"

"Is that a rule?"

"Not really."

With that, teams began pouring into the bull and a regular work day resumed.

At night,

Kate was in the kitchen preparing a chicken casserole for dinner until a knock on the door interrupted that.

Kate placed the casserole in the oven and went to get the door.

Ziva was at the door,

"Can… can I come in?"

Kate stepped aside and Ziva entered. Kate noticed that Ziva had her bags with her.

"Do you mind if… I stay here for a little while? My apartment is being fumigated."

"But there was no notice…." Kate noticed the wary expression on Ziva's face.

"Okay sure. Adam?"

She flinched at the name but answered, "Out of town"

"Aria?"

"At the nanny's" Ziva had placed her there for her own safety.

And this was where things started to go downhill.

**R&R please! Sucky chapter I know.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Konichiwa!**

**I know, I know, I promised that I would write more as it is my summer vacation. But I had to go back for my school musical (even though I didn't do anything very productive and it was such a waste of time) Updates are gonna be slow, yes I mean real slow. I've got a whole lot of new shit to deal with. Please be patient!**

**Sorry for the hiatus! **

**PS: More reviews? Pretty please?**

**And now, onto the story!**

Chapter 12,

When Ziva appeared at work the next day with Kate, everyone grew suspicious but no one said anything.

It was at about an hour after lunch break, the precinct was considerably quiet, no teams heading out on new cases, officers running up and down with constant refills of coffee and the occasional grab of a classic sugar donut. Paperwork being done by the detectives and the veteran detectives knew how to secretly social network without being caught. Kate's team and the NCIS team were occupied with chasing leads.

Debates being held at the murder board, theories being exchanged, agreements and disagreements.

Five minutes past 1300, the neutral silence of the bullpen was going to be broken. The significant elevator "ding" signaled the commencement of drama.

Adam came storming into the bullpen and straight up to Ziva's desk. Ziva was caught off guard.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he started

All movement in the bullpen halted. It was so silent that you could hear a pin drop.

"Excuse me?" Ziva shot back

"This shit about the doorman saying that you moved out and now I suddenly get kicked out of my own apartment!"

"I did move out, but you getting kicked out of your apartment is a whole other story. That's your own damn problem."

"What was that about?"

"None of your damn business,"

"You are my business."

"Not anymore, we're done."

"What did you say you bitch?"

"I said, we're done, over and gone with, dead and gone. Get out of my face and don't make things difficult."

"Oh that's exactly what I'm gonna do. Make things difficult."

He raised a hand to slap her but she grabbed it, twisted it painfully and shoved him into the lift. She hit the button for the first floor and hit the shut button.

Ziva calmly swept her hands and adjusted her hair. She took in a deep breath and went back to work. Ignoring the stares her co-workers were giving her.

"Ziva, can we talk?" Kate asked meekly

Ziva stood up from her seat and followed Kate out of the precinct.

At a nearby Starbucks,

Kate and Ziva both ordered themselves their preferred warm beverage and Kate got the conversation going.

"What the hell was that about?"

"What was what about?"

"Don't play coy with me here Ziva. You and Adam, what was that about?"

"I argued, he argued, we had some disagreements, we broke up. That is about it."

"So, a one year relationship ends because of some disagreements."

"Did my actions suggest otherwise?"

"Is that why you moved in?"

"Maybe,"

Kate scoffed, Ziva was a tough nut to crack. She was going to have to do it sometime or she might shut down on her.

"Has anyone told you that secrets are like time bombs…"

"They explode sooner or later. I've heard that one before."

"Good, so you know if something is bothering you on the inside, it's gonna come out sooner or later. Whether you like it or not."

Ziva stared out of the window. Kate sighed and continued,

"I'm giving you the day off, I hope you sort out anything that's bothering you. As your friend, if anything, anything at all, call me."

Ziva nodded and went out of the coffee shop. Kate leaned back in her seat and sipped her coffee. She watched as Ziva crossed the road and headed on back to the precinct and she frowned.

At Kate's apartment,

Ziva leaned back on the couch. She was immersed in a book that she didn't hear the doorbell. Only after three loud knocks did Ziva peer through the peep hole. No one was on the other side. That's odd.

She opened the door cautiously with her sig in her other hand and noticed a bouquet of dead black roses at the door attached to a note.

"You want to play rough, I can play rougher. Let the games begin."

No points for guessing who this came from. Ziva picked up the roses calmly and headed to the back alley. There, she used the lighter she brought along and torched the flowers till the last petal. All that was left in her hands were the dust residue.

She opened her palms and the dust flew away into the breezy night air of the ever bustling New York City.

She went back up to her apartment. Sat back down but was again disrupted by the doorbell ringing again. This time, she was more prepared. She grabbed her gun sitting by the coffee table.

She crept to the door, mentally counted to three in her head and opened the door and held out her gun simultaneously.

Tony put up his hands in mock surrender. "What did I do?" he yelled.

Ziva sighed and calmed down her breathing. She drew back her gun slowly. "Geez Tony, call me when you're coming next time."

"Did you just call me Tony?"

"That is your name is it not?"

"Yes madam!"

Ziva rolled her eyes, "Odd men these days."

She stepped aside and let him in.

"I brought a peace offering." He placed the bottle of chardonnay on the kitchen counter and pulled out two glasses.

Ziva went into the kitchen and retrieved her glass and took it down in one shot.

"Whoa, relax senorita."

She rolled her eyes at him but managed a smile anyway.

"How did you know I was here?"

"Detective Beckett had to work overtime so she asked me to come over and check on you. Where's the little ball of sunshine?"

"Aria? She's at the nanny's." Ziva smiled a small smile at the mention of Aria's name. Tony took advantage of this and asked.

"So what's the beef between you and your boyfriend?"

Ziva's smile automatically faded. She poured herself another glass of wine and went back to the living room. She plopped herself onto the couch and let go of the breath she didn't know she was holding.

Tony followed her to the living room and sat on the unoccupied side of the couch.

"So?"

"So what?"

"Stop running Ziva,"

"I'm not running from anything."

"Maybe not physically running, but inside you, what are you afraid of?"

Ziva kept silent.

"Since when did you decide to make a career shift from special agent to special shrink?"

"When my best friend is in trouble,"

"So I'm still considered your friend."

"Always,"

Ziva started to tear up a little.

"Zi? What's wrong? Did I say something?"

"That's the problem then."

"What's the problem?"

"I'll always be just your friend, nothing more."

Tony swallowed deeply.

"I ran away for a reason, watching you and Alison hurt like hell. It was eating me up, I had to get away before I did something stupid. I…"

Tony grabbed Ziva by the waist and pulled her face to his and embraced her with a sweet and loving kiss.

After they separated, Ziva was stunned.

"What was that…"

"Ziva David, I love you, you idiot."

Ziva stared at Tony.

"Well, you know what? I promised myself a while back, I would never love again. Well darling, you are the only exception."

Tony smiled genuinely for the first time in a long time.

**R&R please! (Let's just say Ziva made that promise even though I didn't write it down)**

**Sorry for the mini hiatus again!**

***Sucky ending***


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